I think that sports and physical activity is important for young people. And, along with millions of others, I enjoy watching athletes compete. I’m not even remotely suggesting that we do away with either sports or competitions. But why should schools sponsor them? We have community leagues for a variety of sports that serve virtually all ages. We have both amateur and professional organizations that are quite capable of managing sporting events. And we obviously have plenty of stadiums and other venues in which to hold those events.

What message are we sending students when we give out athletic scholarships? What message are we sending them when we place greater emphasis on a championship than a graduation? You know, when I think of a university, I’d like to think of how its teachers and students have contributed to the world of science, or literature, or social studies, not of how its athletes performed in a bowl game.

I know that people would rather watch a quarterback pass for a touchdown than a scientist explain a theorem. But not everything has to cater to the entertainment gods. Can’t our schools be actual citadels of learning, without the financial, programmatic, and psychological distractions of athletics? How about if we start changing the norm, so that maybe in a few generations, we’ll value schools for what knowledge they impart, not for what athletic teams they can field.

There’s just something wrong when a university’s head football coach makes as much as or more than its president. There’s something wrong when students who have no interest in a degree displace more deserving students because they can throw a ball well. And there’s something very wrong when a school is identified more by its mascot than by its achievements.

I’m not naïve; I know that the financial underpinnings of collegiate sports are hard to resist, even if others are making more money from the athletes than the schools are. But we as a nation are no longer the intellectual giants of the world, if we ever were; in fact, we’re falling further behind. It’s possible that our misplaced priorities are in part responsible.

As I say, let’s have a rational conversation about this. Can we not keep teenage athletics, but move it to a different place? Can we not restore our schools so that academics is the top priority?